It’s fall film preview time, finally. Before that though, one of the big stories coming from the entertainment industry this summer has been the Strike.
09.08.2023 - 10:29 / variety.com
Christopher Vourlias Beta Film has acquired international distribution rights to “I Know Your Soul,” a new series from Oscar nominee Jasmila Žbanić (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”) that premieres Out of Competition next month at the Venice Film Festival. The six-episode limited series is led by European Film Award-winning actress Jasna Đuričić, who plays Nevena Murtezic, a prosecutor in the process of divorce and single mother to a teenage son.
The case of an adolescent’s suicide triggers an avalanche of events in her professional and private life, as she finds it increasingly difficult to balance the needs of her son, Dino (Lazar Dragojević), with a job that is under constant public and political pressure. The Bosnian drama is among a growing slate of prestige productions Beta is selling from Eastern Europe as part of the company’s initiative to co-finance and co-produce more projects in the Central and East European region, including the Serbian supernatural drama “Block 27” and the Czech crime series “Ultimatum.” The series is produced by Deblokada and BH Content Lab for BH Telecom.
“I Know Your Soul” is created by Žbanić and Damir Ibrahimović and directed by Alen Drjević and Nermin Hamzagić. The show reunites Žbanić with Đuričić, who won critical acclaim for her performance in “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” which premiered in Venice in 2020 and would go on to make the Oscar shortlist for the best international feature.
The harrowing film depicted the mass killing of some 8,000 civilians — mostly Muslim men and boys — in Srebrenica, a town that was considered a “safe area” amid the wider, raging conflict of the Bosnian War in the 1990s. The worst act of mass killing on European soil since World War II, the massacre was perpetrated while
.It’s fall film preview time, finally. Before that though, one of the big stories coming from the entertainment industry this summer has been the Strike.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Tunisian auteur Mohamed Ben Attia’s new work “Behind the Mountains,” which will soon launch from the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section, sees the director add a supernatural element to the social dramas for which he is known. Attia’s third feature reunites the director with Majd Mastoura, star of his breakout drama “Hedi” — about a repressed young man ignited by a free-spirited woman — which won best debut and actor honors at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival.
Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor The Camerimage Film Festival, which focuses on the art of cinematography, will honor director Werner Herzog (“Fitzcarraldo”), along with his collaborator, Peter Zeitlinger (“Losses to be Expected”), with its Cinematographer-Director Duo Award. The accolade spotlights collaboration between helmers and their DPs, and both creators will be on hand to receive the trophy at Camerimage, which will celebrate its 31st edition in Torun, Poland, on Nov.
EXCLUSIVE: Deadline can reveal the international trailer for Roman Polanski’s ensemble dark comedy The Palace ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.
Zendaya might want to keep her relationship with Tom Holland private, but she knows she “can’t hide” it either.
Icarus Films has taken North American rights to Youth (Spring), the newest feature from Venice prizer winner Wang Bing, which earlier this year became one of the first documentaries admitted to Cannes’ main competition in decades. A release date has not yet been disclosed.
Kenneth Branagh is opening up about his upcoming movie, A Haunting In Venice, and revealed that he wanted to keep the movie as scary as possible – even for the cast.
Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Dozens of Hollywood players are staring anxiously at empty Louis Vuitton trunks this week, wondering if A-list stars and select filmmakers will get the greenlight from SAG-AFTRA to attend the rapidly approaching Venice Film Festival. The union’s interim agreements have been a focal point over the past weeks of the contentious strike, as the deals allow some productions to resume and select finished films to engage in publicity.
The Sarajevo Film Festival has distanced itself from a controversial Serbian film that has been accused of glorifying Serbian nationalist groups after experts from the feature were screened at the festival’s industry forum.
Maestro, the Leonard Bernstein biopic starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, will have the Spotlight Gala slot at this fall’s 61st New York Film Festival.
Naman Ramachandran Magnolia Pictures International has acquired worldwide sales rights – including U.S. sales rights – to suspense-drama “Hesitation Wound” from Turkish writer-director Selman Nacar. The film will world premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The European Film Academy has fired the starting gun in the race for the European Film Awards. It has recommended 19 films to its members who will then select the nominees from this list.
Can a relationship be art? “Maestro” offers a bold look at the complicated and compelling story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein; the new film delves into the legendary conductor’s life, focusing on his unique connection to Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Through it all, they found a way to support one another in a world judgemental of anything that didn’t fit the period’s societal norms.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “The Hollow” won the Heart of Sarajevo Award for best TV drama series at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Sunday, and also came away with a host of other awards. The in-competition series came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia.
K.J. Yossman “Call My Agent” U.K. — launched locally as “Ten Percent” — will not return for a second season, Variety can confirm.
EXCLUSIVE: Gersh on Tuesday announced its signing of Amanda Nell Eu, the rising filmmaker whose debut feature Tiger Stripes recently made history at the Cannes Film Festival.
Marta Balaga FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights to Finnish children’s film “Snot & Splash: The Mystery of Disappearing Holes.” “It was a bidding war. They got offers from everybody,” said FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud. “Snot & Splash” (“Räkä ja Roiskis”) is produced by It’s Alive Films – founded by director Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö – and set for distribution in its native Finland (Scanbox), Scandinavian sub distribution by Sweden (Folkets Bio) and Norway (Norsk Filmdistribusjon), and Italy in the spring (I Wonder Pictures).
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has boarded “Forever-Forever” (“Nazavzhdy-Nazavzhdy”), Ukrainian filmmaker Anna Buryachkova’s feature directing debut, ahead of its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra competition. After transferring from a downtown high school, Tonia (Alina Cheban) befriends a group of badass youngsters, trying to find protection from the people from her past and a place she truly belongs. They spend time together, roaming around Kyiv’s post-socialist suburbs, having fun and getting in trouble.
Welcome back, Insider. It’s been another breakneck week in entertainment. Jesse Whittock here guiding you through the most important TV and film stories.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Matteo Garrone, who is a two-time Cannes jury prizewinner with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012, is set to be in competition in Venice for the first time with his immigration-themed drama “Io Capitano.” Shot over 13 weeks in Senegal, Italy and Morocco with a cast of non-professional actors, the Italian auteur’s new film – the title for which translates to “I Captain” – narrates the Homeric journey of two young African men, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe. It depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.